Well, it’s just a product review. And these just happen to be the best damn lightweight backpacking shoes on the planet. How can I make such a claim? Continue reading Long Term (10 year) Product Review: Salomon XA Pro 3D Trail Running Shoes
Category Archives: Hiking
How to Orient Your Map Quickly With a Compass
For most people, myself included, the primary function of a compass is a simple “field check,” which is orienting the map to North using your compass and then visually associating the terrain to the map. Basically you know where you are, but you need to check details for such things as deciding if is best to hike to the left of a large rock outcropping or right when you are off trail or the trail has become too faint to follow.
Continue reading How to Orient Your Map Quickly With a Compass
Mt. San Jacinto Cheat Sheet
Confession Time
I’ve been cheating. Actually I’ve been cheating for a long time. You see, for decades I’ve been taking the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to the mountains; mostly in the summer and winter. I do it so often; I have an annual pass, which currently costs $160 per year.
San Jacinto Mountains
This mountain range is about 30 miles long and is in close proximity to the San Bernardino Mountains and Santa Rosa Mountains (a.k.a. you can walk to either range from the San Jacinto’s). Much of the area is designated State and Federal Wilderness Areas.
The crown jewel of this range is Mt. San Jacinto, which rises more than 10,000 feet from the desert floor making it one of (if not the most) steepest escarpments in the continental United States.
Furoshiki Shoes
This isn’t a review…
My kids gave these to me as a gift. My son, Joe, is a runner so he picked them out knowing I have a preference for minimal shoes. I think they’ve been around for a couple of years, but I don’t spend my time reading about shoes.
Furoshiki is a type of wrapping cloth used in Japan for centuries to carry stuff, sort of like a poor man’s duffle bag.
But obviously more elegant
Update on Off-Trail Hiking in Anza Borrego State Park
Back in June I wrote a post, Please Help Save Off-Trail Hiking in Anza Borrego.
In October I posted an update, “We the People…” made a difference at Anza Borrego, where I stated,
The State indicated that the management of Anza Borrego State Park will continue to administer the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Cultural Preserve Management Plan of 2012, which is a huge victory.
The biggest challenge for “We the People” is the State is not transparent and it is often difficult to find out about the stuff they pull such as the proposed ban of off-trail hiking in Anza Borrego.
I am always dubious of statements made by politicians and government hacks, and have been looking for news to confirm my last post. What these politicians and hacks say they will do often does not happen. Today I received good news via an email from the California Department of Parks and Recreation:
Continue reading Update on Off-Trail Hiking in Anza Borrego State Park